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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23879539">it will come back</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/basicallyiwriteshit/pseuds/basicallyiwriteshit'>basicallyiwriteshit</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A/B/O, Alpha!Tanaka - Freeform, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Beauty and the Beast AU, Kinda, M/M, Omega Verse, Other, alpha/beta/omega, beast!tanaka, omega!ennoshita, omegaverse AU, werewolf!tanaka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:28:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,726</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23879539</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/basicallyiwriteshit/pseuds/basicallyiwriteshit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ennoshita ran away. From the creature he was to be given to, a tribute demanded of his village, an omega virgin. Whether it wanted a bride or a meal, he didn't know, and didn't care. at least now he's safe-- or so he thought.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ennoshita Chikara/Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Kinoshita Hisashi/Narita Kazuhito</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is based off of an AU on my tumblr that I just couldn't get out of my head! </p><p>Here's the link to the original post; I'm deviating a bit from the plot I originally wrote out, but I hope this version is a lot better! https://basically-i-write-shit.tumblr.com/post/190730249010/ennoshita-ran-away-from-the-creature-he-was-to-be</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chikara hears about the wrecked farmland from his classmates; sees it when he takes the long way home. The eerie feeling it gives him makes him walk faster, looking over his shoulder the whole time. </p><p>After the first incident, when Chikara arrives at school, the whole building is abuzz with the news- even the daycare students at the elementary school across the street are chattering about it. Then, it happens a second and third and fourth time, and the talk slows down amid fear. This isn’t harmless fun anymore. With their small town so cut off from other cities that the adults are quite uneasy, while the youth are entertained trying to figure out the culprit. There aren’t a lot of delinquents around town and even still, they all seem to have alibis. Which only makes the situation harder. If there was someone to blame, it would’ve been a lot easier to deal with. Have whoever it is pay for fencing repairs and new livestock after ruining entire livelihoods in one night. </p><p>As it is, it’s hard for everyone living out here. The lack of supplies makes repairs hard if property is vandalized. And expensive to do. The tall gates around their village to keep coyotes and other night animals out are torn to shreds most nights, and the poor victim has to make almost daily trips to the nearest town- nearly four hours total of driving, just to have to redo it all the next day. </p><p>Yes, Chikara knows something’s wrong, he just can’t place why his parents - and a handful of other parents in their village - are trying to <em>hide</em> that fact. He’s seen the headless chickens, the torn fencing and lawns, hears the howling at night of injured coyotes and something stronger, bigger, than them that sends shivers down his spine. He’s also seen his parents sneaking out to town hall meetings when they think he doesn’t notice, the tired looks on his neighbor’s, teacher’s eyes after another rough night.His classmates have gone from taking guesses on who the troublemaker is by scouring the lunchroom and pitting the delinquents against each other to see who it really is, to calling who -what- ever is destroying the town a “beast.”</p><p>The name makes Chikara laugh, but when it hits his house, he begins to understand why they’ve taken to calling it that. </p><p>He’s slaving over an assignment near one thirty in the morning when he hears something in the back garden. Normally, he’s already wracked with paranoia as-is but with everything that's going on he’s even more on edge. Freezing in place, he takes a moment to listen and flinches when he hears the trash can outside tip over. His shoulders stiffen and he jumps up, creeping cautiously to his bedroom door. Before he can open it, however, he’s startled by a howl and he scrambles back with wide eyes. He rushes to grab something to protect himself when he sees something through his window. </p><p>The blinds are drawn up so he can see the moon outside, exposing the back garden, and just as soon as Chikara looks outside he sees a- a <em>beast</em>, a monster, and his knees crumble underneath him. He sees the beast turn to look in his direction as he falls, but he stays on the floor until he sees its shadow leave the window. </p><p>He spends the rest of his night hiding in his closet trying not to throw up. </p><p>In the morning, his back garden is torn to shreds; the flower planters are ripped apart, the early fall flowers scattered clear into the next house over, which is also torn up;  squash from the vegetable garden next door is splattered against the siding like bloodsplatter on one of those crime shows. Despite his protests, Chikara’s parents rush him out of the house and off to school, promising they’ll clean up the garden on their own so he grabs his backpack and does as he’s told. .</p><p>For the first time since presenting as an omega, Chikara is the center of attention at school; his classmates are enthralled upon hearing him detail how he’d heard the beast, and the alphas all seem to be a bit more protective of him for an unwelcome minute. It’s scary to talk about. Until now, the beast has only been attacking the outer houses, but Chikara lives in the middle of town which is new. Chikara just considers himself lucky. He knows some of his classmates on the edge of town have had worse. </p><p>Still, he’s terrified. Who wouldn’t be? </p><p>Chikara can hardly sleep these days. The attacks keep happening around town, and there isn’t anything the villagers can do. Some time mid week, his parents come home from a town meeting and that night they lay a fresh steak out on the back stoop. When he asks why, they give a noncommittal answer, but when the steak is still there in the morning he hears his parents muttering something about “it didn’t take the sacrifice,” and he reels. <em>Sacrifice</em>? </p><p>On his walk home, he sees a handful of other houses in the same position; half-rotted meat sitting on the door step, untouched by everything other than maybe a raccoon. The same goes on for the rest of the week before the village has another meeting among elders. Once again Chikara’s parents tell him to stay, and so he does, keeping himself locked in his room until his parents come home. </p><p>The meetings continue for another two weeks, one almost every night, but with finals coming up Chikara hasn’t much time to focus on the building paranoia and fear. Every night, his parents hang a slab of meat on the front door. Sometimes it’s touched, sometimes it’s not. That’s the new normal for a couple of months, and all the while Chikara’s paranoia grows. He’s always been a night owl, and so he’s often up late doing homework or watching something on the television, but now his nights are spent mostly making sure his windows are locked and the blinds pulled tight. Any sound outside sends him into a whirlwind of terror and his room reeks of distress. </p><p>Parents begin sending their children to live with relatives out of town, and by the time Chikara enters his second year of high school, his class has shrunk from twenty-two, to fifteen. The beast has only made a handful of appearances, but every month on the full moon without fail the entire town is wrecked. </p><p>But that’s all normal. Chikara is used to it. </p><p>Until one night, his parents sit him down after a meeting one night. Chikara knows something is wrong almost immediately- he knows their body language, their scents, and this is not normal. He can clearly smell the barely-concealed distress coming off of the two betas, and sees his mother’s shoulders shaking ever-so-slightly. When they finally compose themselves, they tell him the news: The elders are anonymously drawing names for a human sacrifice to the beast. </p><p>An omega human sacrifice. </p><p>For a couple of days, while names are collected and the elders debate the best way to draw the sacrifice, Chikara plans. He packs a bag of clothes and some easy-to-carry food in his bag, and the meager amount of money he’d earned from his allowance. He keeps it in the bushes outside his bedroom window, just in case he needs it. He will <em>not</em> become a sacrifice. Sure, the village is a bit outlandish and old-fashioned, but a sacrifice? It's the 21st century! He’d rather run away from the only life he’s had than die at some beast’s hands. </p><p>It’s cowardly, he knows. But he can’t find it in himself to care, especially when the elders of the village show up on his doorstep with a ceremonial yukata. </p><p>-</p><p>A hand on his shoulder startles Chikara, and he looks up to see his friend and roommate, Narita, looking down at him with an amused smile. "You alright, bud?" </p><p>"Yeah, yeah." Chikara smiles. "Must've zoned out. You ready to go?" </p><p>Narita offers him a hand and he takes it, grunting as he stands. "Yeah, we'd better get going or we're gonna be late." </p><p>Chikara nods, grabbing his wallet and phone from the counter as he follows Narita and his mate Kinoshita out the door. The nightlife in their little part of Sendai is nonexistent, and so they take a short walk a couple of blocks to the restaurant they're meeting their friends at. "So, uh, who's Noya bringing to dinner to night again?" </p><p>"Ah, one of his friends from the fishing boat, I hear," Narita says boredly. </p><p>"He just got back from some trip abroad, or something." </p><p>"Sounds just like your type, Chikara," Teases Narita, bumping Chikara with his shoulder, and the other omega rolls his eyes. "What's his name again, 'Zashi?" </p><p>"Tanaka Ryuunosuke." </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wrote Daichi's occupation into the story before the BLM protests, and it's too late to change it now. </p><p>Just know, uh. ACAB.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tanaka Ryuunosuke is not stupid. </p><p>Okay, well-- he is, but not when it comes to his personal safety. At least he normally is. Now, as he looks down at the long, angry scratch down his chest, he thinks perhaps he’d fucked up somewhere. Hissing as Noya dabs alcohol on the wound, the alpha tosses his head back. </p><p>“Man, that thing got you good. What even <em>was </em>that?” Noya comments. He has a focused look on his face whilst he works to patch Tanaka up after an encounter on their walk home with a large-- dog? Wolf? Whatever it was it was fucking terrifying, even for Tanaka, who is normally quite fearless. </p><p>...And perhaps he was a little drunk when they came across it in the woods, and maybe he provoked it a bit, but he hadn’t thought the thing would lunge at them and scratch him --hard-- before running off into the night. </p><p>The cut is deep, but Tanaka refuses to go to the hospital and admit how stupid he was to a bunch of strangers. So instead, he’s sitting on the closed toilet seat in his apartment with Noya using whatever he has in his poorly-stocked first-aid kit to try and get him back together. </p><p>“Can we just call Daichi? He can patch you up better than I can. He can do stitches.” </p><p>“No!” Says Tanaka, his eyes widening. His cheeks flush in embarrassment, and he shakes his head. “No, I don’t want Daichi to scold me. I’ll be fine.” </p><p>Noya doesn’t look convinced, but he himself is pretty tipsy, so he just shrugs and nods. He finishes patching Tanaka up, giving him a big grin as he helps him up. Tanaka grunts as his hastily-wrapped bandages rub against the scratch. As they make their way down the hall, Tanaka grabs a sweatshirt and slips it on before falling onto the couch. Noya stands at the door, looking at him with a frown. </p><p>“You gonna be alright if I leave? I’ve gotta get back and get some actual sleep before I ship out in the morning,” </p><p>“Yeah, I’m fine! I’ll see you when you get back next month, right? </p><p>Noya gives a thumbs up. “Hell yeah, man! We’re gonna get lit up, just like this time, except without getting mauled.” </p><p>Tanaka barks out a laugh and throws whatever’s on his coffee table -- a half-eaten candy bar -- towards the beta. “Hey, it’s not my fault! That thing just didn’t like your shitty beer.” </p><p>Noya just laughs, shaking his head as he flips Tanaka off and leaves Tanaka’s apartment to head downstairs to his own flat. Tanaka sighs happily and lays down on the couch; he couldn’t be bothered to go to his bedroom right now, and so he just turns the TV on and allows himself to fall asleep to whatever’s playing. </p><p>When he goes to sleep, he feels fine save for perhaps a slight burn still from the scratch. When he wakes up, however, Tanaka feels like his skin is melting off. </p><p>Groaning, Tanaka blinks bleary eyes open and props himself up on an elbow, before quickly realizing that’s a bad idea. His vision darkens as he lays back down, nausea pulling at what’s left of his dinner and the alcohol he’d gone through the evening before. The morning news plays at a low volume, the beautiful beta newscaster that he gets up early to watch some days talking animatedly about something-- wolf sightings in the area? He can’t exactly focus on much more than how hot he is. If he weren’t already an alpha, he’d be worried that he was going into heat, but this isn’t it. </p><p>No, he’s excruciatingly hot right now, but he’s also in so much pain it’s <em>nauseating</em>. His chest where the scratch is burns, more than it did when Noya was dabbing it with alcohol the night before, and when he unzips the haphazardly pulled on hoodie he finds the bandage Noya wrapped around it has bled through. His hands shake as he leans over, reaching for his phone. It’s just out of his reach, and he falls to the ground with a thud, his consciousness leaving his body almost instantly. </p><p>Tanaka opens his eyes again some time later, and when he does the morning news isn’t on anymore. For a moment, he feels fine, but then the pain in the gash along his chest radiates through his entire body again and he loses his lunch all over the floor. With a groan, he lifts his arm and grabs his phone from the coffee table and dials a familiar number rather begrudgingly. </p><p>“...Hello?” </p><p>“Daichi...I think I’m dying...” </p><p>After a brief phone call with Daichi, Tanaka hangs up, still laying on the floor and waits. Not ten minutes later, he hears his door open and close, and the shuffling of someone sliding their shoes off and making their way into the apartment. He can’t see because he can’t more, but he hears Daichi at the edge of the couch. </p><p>“Tanaka?” Daichi calls, and Tanaka swallows thickly. </p><p>“Here,” </p><p>“Ta-- Holy shit, Tanaka,” Daichi moves around the couch to Tanaka’s side and kneels down right next to the alpha, avoiding the pile of puke. “You alright man? You look like shit.” </p><p>“Been better,” Tanaka says with a lopsided grin, and Daichi shakes his head. He laughs, before realizing that may not be a good idea, and he wheezes for a long while while Daichi watches, concerned. After a moment, he stops wheezing, and he looks back up at Daichi. “...’m not doing good, Daichi-san.” </p><p>“I can see. Hey, I’m going to move you back up to the couch, alright?”</p><p>Tanaka nods and, without warning, Daichi scoops him up effortlessly and sets him on the couch with an unfamiliar gentleness. He presses the back of his hand against Tanaka’s forehead and gasps, pulling away. “You’re burning up, Tanaka, how did you let yourself get this bad?” </p><p>“It’s been, like...six hours...” Tanaka mumbles, tired. “Noya left at...one thirty? And I was fine then.” </p><p>“Six hours? Jesus, what did you drink?” </p><p>“Th’s not what it was, look,” Tanaka says, gently moving the sweater to the side so the not bled-through bandage is visible. Daichi swears under his breath and stands, grabbing scissors from the kitchen counter before returning. He carefully snips the bandages, and Tanaka sucks in a breath as fresh cool air hits his wound. </p><p>“Tanaka...What in the world did you do?” </p><p>“Was messing around walking back t’ the apartments, pissed off some wolf...Y’ see the news? They’re all over, I guess.” </p><p>Daichi blinks at him a moment, brows furrowing. “I’m sorry?” </p><p>“It didn’t want my beer, scratched me wh’n I got too close.” </p><p>“A-- A wolf?” </p><p>“Yeah, at least I think. Thing was huge.” </p><p>Daichi swallows thickly, but Tanaka doesn’t see. “Tanaka, I’m gonna tell you something and I need you to listen, okay?” </p><p>Raising a confused eyebrow, Tanaka grins up at him. “What’s that, Daichi-san?” </p><p>“...That thing that bit you wasn’t just a wolf.” </p><p>-</p><p>At first, Tanaka laughs off Daichi’s words-- he thinks it’s a joke. But Daichi’s face is dead serious, and he isn’t laughing with him. Tanaka knows when Daichi is joking, and this isn’t it. As soon as it occurs to him, though, his stomach drops-- Daichi’s face morphs to fear, and he moves to lay him down on the couch. </p><p>“You’re white as a ghost, Tanaka! Calm down, it’s-- it’s not as bad as it sounds,” Daichi says gently. “It’s going to suck for the first few months, but you’ll be alright once you get used to it.” </p><p>“You’re not the one that just figured out werewolves are real and that you’re going to turn into one within five minutes,” Drawls Tanaka miserably. His fever is still high, and he feels nausea pooling in his stomach as he tries to process everything. “How do you even know this kinda stuff?” </p><p>“You’d be surprised about what I did before I was a cop,” Daichi teases with a smirk. “My life was a lot easier before I was forced to befriend some idiots that ended up in my drunk tank every other month.” </p><p>“Hey, it could be worse. We could be in there every other week.” Tanaka says, grinning weakly. Daichi shakes his head at him, smiling. He sighs heavily. </p><p>“There’s going to be a few things to work out, but until the next full moon we don’t have to worry about it. Let me get you set up here while that infection heals, and then I have to go.” </p><p>Daichi helps Tanaka re-clean and re-dress the large scratch, before he has to leave for a shift at the station, and then Tanaka is alone. He falls asleep shortly after Daichi leaves. Eventually, the nausea and dizziness returns-- and stays. At some point he doesn’t even know what day it is. Daichi comes into his apartment occasionally, helps him out, but everything blurs together so it’s hard to tell what time of day it is, or what day of the week. It feels lame to be so weak, and Tanaka tries to push himself to get better, but it only gets worse the closer it gets to the full moon-- that is...</p><p>Until, one night, Tanaka wakes up feeling better than he has in his <em>entire life</em>. </p><p>Tanaka’s body thrums with adrenaline when he wakes up, street light and moon light pooling in from his window in a way that’s just <em>so</em> hypnotizing. For some reason, Tanaka wants to be closer to the light. but he knows he should wait for Daichi. So he sits and waits-- and when that doesn’t work, he paces the floor so much he’s sure his downstairs neighbors are annoyed, but he doesn’t care. </p><p>At some point Tanaka blacks out for quite some time, and when he awakens again his apartment is a wreck. His body has changed, he notes lazily, panting. He’s-- He’s <em>bigger</em>, his whole body, and he’s naked but that doesn’t seem to matter because his entire body is covered in a layer of thick, dark fur. His limbs are sore from the change, and his head throbs as he turns it slowly to look around his apartment. </p><p>He’s definitely not getting his security deposit back. </p><p>-</p><p>When Daichi finally arrives to Tanaka’s apartment to check on him, tired from his long shift, he finds it in a state of disarray. There are tears in the furniture, on the walls, DVDs and broken class --among other things-- are scattered across the small living quarters. Daichi feels dread fill him as he remembers now. </p><p>...Right, it’s the full moon. He’d tried to get Iwaizumi to take his shift tonight, but he couldn’t. </p><p>Fuck. </p><p>Daichi rushes inside quickly and closes the door behind him, calling Tanaka’s name, but there’s no answer. Daichi searches the whole apartment-- bedroom, bathroom, linen closets, etc. but Tanaka is nowhere to be found. His heart drops even more. All of the plans he’d had to make the transition easier for Tanaka, to keep him safe at Iwaizumi’s underling, Kyoutani’s, house-- those aren’t going to happen anymore. </p><p>When Tanaka comes to again he’s covered in blood. At first he doesn’t realize, thinks his fur is just covered in mud or something with how sticky it is, but the heavy scent of iron makes him retch when he realized what it is. Whose is it? Where did the blood come from? It surely isn’t his own. </p><p>He also doesn’t know where he is. </p><p>The sun is bright as he blinks up towards the sky. It peeks through a curtain of trees, winking at him flirtatiously, and Tanaka huffs and turns away from it. His body aches even more than before, and it takes a moment for him to realize why; instead of his half-formed werewolf body, he looks more like the wolf that attacked him that night a couple of weeks ago. </p><p>With an annoyed huff, he lays his head down again and decides not to worry about everything right now. </p><p>He’s tired, and the sun is bright, and so for now he’ll sleep. </p><p>Some hours later Tanaka awakens again-- this time much more cognizant. His head and body still ache, but he’s more aware of his surroundings. The sun is down now, the waning moon high in the sky, and as he lifts himself up on his paws he looks around curiously. He knows that he’s in the woods, somewhere, but has no idea where he possibly could be. The smell of food wafts through the air from somewhere, and his stomach growls. He’s hungry...but even if he knew where he was, there’s surely not any way he can just walk into town and ask for food looking like this. </p><p>Slowly getting up, Tanaka looks around. He stumbles on his feet for a moment, not used to walking on four feet, a sense of vertigo washing over him as he takes a moment to adjust. </p><p>After a moment, he begins to walk towards the smell of food, finds he doesn’t have to go too far-- he’s only really a little farther than a kilometer from a smaller looking village. There’s a wooden fence surrounding the houses on the outer perimeter of the town, though he can’t tell if the fence goes all around the whole town or not from how close to the ground he is. He walks around the outskirts of town, looking through gaps in the fence to see most of the windows in the houses are darkened. He’s...oddly...calm as he does this, listening to the crickets chirping loudly in trees and bushes. </p><p>After a while, he retreats, he makes his way away from the village and lays down. A patch of moonlight slips through the leaves and he watches it slowly as he loses consciousness once more. </p><p>When he wakes again, the blood is there again- as well as some wood splinters and feathers from what he assumes are chickens. His stomach feels full, his head light, and he feels sick just thinking about what this could mean. But, he supposes, chickens are better than human flesh at least-- </p><p>Right? </p><p>Everything about this is so new to him. Even as the months progress, he is unsure of how to control his new body; it seems like he’ll lose himself at the most inconvenient times and then wake up covered in blood. He knows, logically, that he’s destroying the village nearby but he can’t find it in him to visit the village in his conscious moments. It would wreck him to actually see what he’s done. </p><p>He loses track of time often. It occurs to him, at some point, it’s likely been months since he’s last seen a person. He wonders what happened to his apartment-- whether Daichi, upon showing up to his apartment and finding him gone the night he disappeared, packed his things for him. Maybe his landlord came to check on him after he didn’t get rent and cleared his stuff. Surely his apartment is uninhabitable. </p><p>Slowly, though, he gains control over his new body. He knows from Daichi that after about six month he should be able to turn back into a human, but only for a little bit; he won’t be able to go back to normal until a year, and even then he’ll likely change every month for the rest of his life. </p><p>Which. Fuck. </p><p>When he’s in his wolf form, he feels like a real monster. He knows he’s destroying livestock, destroying property, but he can’t help it! He understands now why he was attacked, originally-- Tanaka couldn’t handle being harassed by some drunk idiot like him like this. This form makes him so-- so <em>angry</em>. So <em>predatory</em>. </p><p>- </p><p>It’s another six months by time Tanaka regains enough control of his body to stay human. He stays in the woods, sheltered by the trees and fed by berries and raw meat, until he’s positive that he won’t change back at the drop of the hat. Then, naked and cold, he makes his way slowly down the only road leading away from the small village he’s been terrorizing. </p><p>He doesn’t know what he’ll do when he reaches whatever’s at the end of the road, but he’s sure it won’t be easy to find Daichi and he’s right, of course. Luckily, when he comes to the end of the road the sun is beginning to set; he hadn’t seen a single person the entire four-hour walk, and he isn’t sure whether he’s happy about that or not. There’s a small sign saying he’s entering Miyagi, and then he’s on an offshoot of a smaller highway that goes right through his hometown. </p><p>Tanaka vaguely remembers Daichi’s address and so, carefully under the cover of trees and darkness, he makes his way through the residential neighborhoods until he’s at Daichi’s front door. </p><p>He doesn’t even think about modesty when he knocks on the door-- that thought comes after he sees Kiyoko Shimizu’s shocked face as she answers the door.</p><p>Shimizu gasps, slamming the door shut, and Tanaka makes a strangled noise as he realizes what just happened. He quickly uses the potted fern outside of Daichi’s apartment as protection as he knocks again, pleading quietly so the neighbors don’t hear and peek out to see, “Shimizu-san, please! I’m sorry, I thought Daichi would answer, this is all a misunderstanding! Please let me in, I’m hungry! And cold! Please Shimizu-san!” </p><p>There’s shuffling behind the door, but nothing happens for quite a while. Tanaka wonders absently if the beta woman is looking for something to hit him with and shivers at the thought. He’s about to turn around and hope Noya is home when the door swings open and a familiar hand reaches out and pulls him swiftly inside. Daichi immediately wraps him in a blanket, and then a big hug, and it’s the most human contact Tanaka’s had in over a year. The thought of that, paired with the stress he’s under, brings unwelcome tears to Tanaka’s eyes and he begins to sob. </p><p>Daichi coos like he’s Tanaka’s mother, gently leading them to the couch, and Tanaka just continues to cry, his wails growing louder and more desperate as he clings to Daichi. </p><p>“I-- I-- Oh, Daichi-san, that-- it was so terrible,” He hiccups, “I-- It hurt so m-- muc-- m- much, Daichi-s-san. I hurt s- so many p- people--” </p><p>“Hey, I know,” Daichi says, his voice much lower and calmer than Tanaka’s. His scent grows heavier, more calming, as he slowly rubs circles in Tanaka’s back. “I had made plans to make it less painful for you, but you were gone before I could help you. I was worried.” </p><p>“I-- I don’t remember half of what happened, I was-- It was like I was a monster, or something!” Tanaka Ryuunosuke is nothing if not a moral person. He’ll beat someone up, sure, but only if they deserve it; the people, the animals, he hurt while he was on his rampage didn’t deserve it. </p><p>“You’re not a monster, Tanaka, I promise.” </p><p>“B- But, I-- I--” </p><p>“I said you’re not a monster, Tanaka. Let’s leave it at that for now.” Daichi says, putting more force into his voice. Tanaka nods slowly. He’s stopped crying, at least not as heavy, and pulls away from Daichi. He’ll be embarrassed about how emotional he got later, but for now he’s just going to focus on the important things. Like how hungry he is. His stomach growls almost as if on cue, and Daichi lets out a bark of a laugh. He claps Tanaka’s back before standing. “You did say you were hungry while you were begging to get let in, huh? Don’t worry, I’ll make something up right now. How about you hop in the shower quick while I do that? I’ll bring you some clothes in a minute.” </p><p>“...Yeah, I think I need that,” Tanaka says slowly. He knows he’s dirty, can feel the dirt and blood stuck to his skin. A shower and a nice meal will do him good. Then he can figure everything out. He stands, wrapping the blanket around him tighter, when a thought pops into his head. “Wait-- Where’s Kiyoko-san?” </p><p>“I sent her, Suga, and Asahi to my room while I dealt with you. We were having a game night.” Daichi shrugs. “You’re more than welcome to join us once you’ve eaten, but I’m sure you’d rather go to bed.” </p><p>Tanaka thinks a moment. He hasn’t seen another person in so long, and four seems overwhelming, but... “Yeah, that sounds fun actually. Count me in!” </p><p>Tanaka rushes towards Daichi’s bathroom, dropping the blanket, and he’s able to crack a smile at Daichi’s stern voice calling his name behind him. </p><p>-</p><p>Tanaka was right in thinking he wouldn’t have an apartment to come back to; Daichi seemed guilty that he only packed his things and put them in storage, but Tanaka understands. There’s no way Daichi could handle the rent for his own apartment and Tanaka’s, and he wasn’t expecting Daichi to try. Luckily, Daichi has been nice enough to let him stay in the guest bedroom for a while, and he has a drawer full of his own clothes so he doesn’t have to keep borrowing Daichi’s. </p><p>Adjusting to life is...Hard. He almost forgets about the werewolf thing, but then Daichi points to the calendar on the fridge and hands him a backpack full of clothes. He gives Tanaka directions to a friend’s house, but as soon as he’s outside in the waxing moonlight, he’s drawn back to the woods he came from. </p><p>He remembers some of it, this time. The pillaging he’s done. He makes note to go by the village as a human sometime, and offer to help repair things. As a kind soul, nothing else. </p><p>This time, he’s lucky to have had the clothes packed and so he’s able to return to Daichi’s fully clothed this time, for a much less tearful reunion. </p><p>The cycle repeats for a handful of months. Tanaka finds part-time work at some burger places to help Daichi with rent, but none of them stick. He feels...helpless. And it is not a good feeling. The need to disappear every month to destroy some poor farmer’s livestock doesn’t make anything easier, either. </p><p>Which brings him to now. </p><p>He’s sitting calmly in a now familiar clearing in the woods, waiting for his body to return to normal so that he can make the trek back to Daichi’s and sleep for a week. The wind blows from the east, wind chimes from some of the closer houses in the village ding pleasantly in the night air, and he’s nearly drifting off when something catches his attention. </p><p>The sound of footsteps nearby process in his mind second-- the first thing that processes in Tanaka’s mind is the scent of a clearly distressed omega.</p><p>He’s on his feet in a second, rushing towards the smell, when he hears a whimper and stops in his tracks-- it’s probably best not to approach anyone in this state. So he moves slower, carefully making his way towards the scent. Finds a young looking omega, maybe two years younger than himself, walking down the path. He has a flashlight clutched in one hand, the strap of a backpack in the other, as he whirls his head around the darkened woods. He’s walking away from the village. Short dark hair frames his face, where wide eyes and soft looking lips lay, and Tanaka is stricken with awe. </p><p>He’s beautiful. </p><p>He needs to be protected. </p><p>Tanaka begins to follow him without even noticing; his four legs move on their own volition, following just behind-- just out of sight. He makes sure to keep his steps as soft as possible, not even caring that he’d left his backpack in the woods, and would likely turn back before he could retrieve it. He follows the omega until sunlight begins to creep into the sky; when he sees the moon dipping behind the mountains, he stays put and waits for the painful process of turning back into a human. He’s nearly back to Miyagi, and so he continues to walk when he’s sure the omega is farther ahead-- risking getting caught naked around town to get back to Daichi’s quickly, rather than wait until sundown to make a safer retreat. </p><p>That omega stays on Tanaka’s mind. He returns to the same village every full moon, but he knows logically that the omega won’t be there. </p><p>Around two years after his change, Daichi sits him down for a talk, but Daichi doesn’t even need to open his mouth for Tanaka to know he’s getting kicked out-- which. Fair. He’s been living with him for almost a year, and Tanaka is not the best housemate. </p><p>“...naka? Tanaka?” </p><p>“Huh? Right. Hey, it’s no problem, man.” Tanaka gives Daichi a crooked grin. “I’ve been thinkin’ about going to see my sister, anyway. She lives out in the country, needs a bit a’ help around the house.” </p><p>“Are...Are you sure? This isn’t, like, a right away thing-- Suga and I aren’t even going to look for a place until--” </p><p>“Nah, it’s fine, really! She’s been asking to see me anyway, since I’ve been gone for so long.” He says, brushing Daichi’s worry off. “Don’t worry about it.” </p><p>“Right...” Daichi sighs. “You’re welcome to come back anytime you want, you know.” </p><p>“Right.” </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Comments/Kudos are much appreciated! Let me know how you feel about this one!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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